There is always a way in which you perceive something, and that perception changes over time. For example, a bike was a dream at some point of time, then it became a luxury, then it became a necessity, and after Bangalore traffic it became a curse. You see a book in one way before reading it and a completely different way after reading it.
We have different perceptions of our dad too over time and I am here to talk a bit about that.
In your Childhood — My Dad knows everything :)
In your High School — My Dad knows something…
In your Youth — My Dad knows Nothing!
When you are a Man — My Dad knew something…
When you become a Dad — My Dad knew everything :’)
In your childhood, when you have no idea about the world you are in, there’s one person who becomes your entire world. When the world is an unknown to you, you hold his hand and move out and everything becomes so familiar. He has answers to even the smallest, silly and lame questions that we have. At that moment, you look up to him and say,
My Dad knows everything :)
In your high school, when you go to your dad asking about a trip that you would want to go with your friends, he refuses at first. You sit with him and try to convince him, you ask your mom to talk to your dad and let you go for that trip, and looking at your cute face with teary eyes, he says okay, let’s you go to that trip, and says be careful. Before you leave to that trip, he calls you, gives you a little extra money that you had asked for and says, “enjoy your trip and be careful :)”. At that time, you think about the battle you had to fight for this trip and he finally agreeing, you tell yourself,
“My Dad knows something…”
You reach the peak of your youth, you are having the time of your life (according to you), enjoying in the best way you can. One day, you walk up to him and ask, “Dad, I want that bike which costs your 4 months’ salary”. Your dad looks at you and asks himself “What has got into my son’s head!” You fight a war with him. Leave food for few days, nor talk to him for few more days. At last, you lose that battle, you won’t get that bike that you had dreamt of, and then tell yourself,
“My dad knows nothing!”
Fast forward few years of your life, you are a man now. You get a job. You start living few parts of your life on your own. You start earning. You start taking up responsibility. You start realizing everything that your dad did to bring your home to the position that it is today. You get into a position in your career where you start hating and cursing your Mondays. Then at a moment you sit and think, “I am frustrated with only these few Mondays in my life, imagine how many Mondays did my dad go through, for all these thirty five years. Those Mondays wouldn’t be any less difficult for him than they are for me. But I never saw him complain even once for these 35 years about those Mondays”. You sit in your cubicle, staring at the screen, and tell yourself, again,
“My dad knew something…”
You are married now, you are blessed with a kid, for the very first time you take that baby into your hands, with utmost care, you have never felt this delicate in your entire life till date and maybe you never will, you look at that baby and see your entire life. After few days, your child starts to ask you all those silly questions that you used to ask your dad. You learn new skill sets that you never thought you would attain. The amount of patience with which you deal with your kid. And at some point of time you realize and tell yourself again,
“My dad knew everything :’)”
Only that this time you have a tear in your eye, and you continue telling yourself “dad, if only I could be half of what you were, I would be satisfied with myself”.
We never realize the worth of few moments when we are having them. We only realize it when they are gone. So never miss a chance to tell someone how much that moment meant to you before it’s gone. We as guys are at time very tough on our dads, we feel that he doesn’t understand us at all, we feel he still thinks in his own archaic way, we fail to understand or perceive things from our dad’s perspective.
So, let’s take some time today and have that conversation with your dad, ask sorry for all the times you couldn’t understand him, and thank him for all the times he was there for you.